Korte Reis

London Day 1&2

SPIL’s Short Trip of 2019 started, as that’s the tradition, very early in the morning. When bus driver Ricardo left Leiden and The Hague, promising he would bring us a bit faster than usual to Brussels, most SPIL’ers were trying to extend their night rest a bit more. Driving a bit faster indeed, we were on time to take our train to go under the Engelish Channel all the way to London!We spend the afternoon with a short museum hop, visiting three of the UK most famous museums: the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Natural History Museum and The Science Museum. In the evening, most SPIL’ers went out for dinner our visited a Premier League Football game, before they went to bed early, trying to compensate their lack of sleep the night before.

On Wednesday this trip started to become seriously, as the first appointments were scheduled. Firstly the group went to a dependance of Oxford University College where we had a meeting with professors Heidi Mauer and Nick Wright who gave a short introduction into Brexit, and who were also pretty clear about their own opinion on Brexit and the chaos in the British Government and Parliament. The question round gave the Eurosceptic SPIL members the chance to asks some critical questions, starting a discussion on EU integration between both the professors and their fellow SPIL-members.

After the meeting at Oxford University College we went back to our hostel where dutch journalist Patrick IJzendoorn was already waiting. He spoke about his career, the media landscape of in the UK and Brexit, before the SPIL’ers went out for dinner!

By Jan Willem Wesselink

London day 3,4&5

Thursday – 31st of January

On Thursday our first meeting was at Westminster, the British Parliament. Before the meeting we had some time to see all the historical buildings and statues in the neighbourhood of the parliament. The meeting was with Mr. Tom Brake, who has been a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Liberal Democrats since 1997. The Liberal Democrats are not in favour of the Brexit and this was also the main theme that was discussed. After the meeting there was time to visit a debate. Unfortunately, itwas not so dramatic as we have seen on the TV, this was partly due to the fact that the debate was about clothing regulations. It was an interesting meeting and it was very impressive to see the parliament.

The second meeting was with the Dutch embassy. The presentation was given by two employees from the embassy who are part of the Brexit taskforce. This taskforce looks at the possible consequences for the Netherlands when Great Britain will leave the EU. We have learned that the Netherlands must take many measures when there will be a No deal Brexit and that new treaties must be made between the two countries.

In the evening the Committee Foreign Affairs had organised a Pub Crawl. The group visited several pubs where many pints went over the bar.

Friday – 1stof February

On Friday, there was only one meeting at the European Banking Authority (EBA). Still tired of the night beforethe group went to one of the many gigantic buildings of London. The meeting took place on approximately the 38thfloor. There was a beautiful view of al large part of London. The EBA is part of the European System of Financial Supervision which took over all existing responsibilities and tasks of the European Banking Supervisors. The EBA is an independent EU Authority which works to ensure effective and consistent prudential regulation and supervision across the European banking sector. The subject of the appointment was quite technical, so it was sometimes a bit difficult to follow everything.

After the meeting there was time to visit the many tourist attractions or other parts of London. In the evening the group went to dinner together where we looked back on a beautiful trip. Afterwards a part of the group discovered London’s nightlife. It turned out to be a long evening.

Saturday – 2ndof February

On Saturday it was already time to go home. Tired and satisfied we went back by train and bus. Most of the group slept during the whole journey, but some could not resist to drink a katerbiertje, against the hangover. In the evening we arrived in The Hague and Leiden and everyone went home with beautiful memories and new experiences.

After yesterday’s exciting events we had another full day waiting for us. First, a meeting with Rop Zoutberg, who was unfortunately a little lite because of an interview on the Dutch radio about the hot topic of Catalonia. Mr Zoutberg is the NOS correspondent in Madrid. He has been for quite some time, if we do not count his four year stay in Rome as an interruption. With his impressive career, he was open to answering all of our questions. They ranged from corruption in both Italy and Spain, to building a social life when working abroad. He urged us several times that we should definitely spend some time abroad and advised us to make sure to speak the language of the country that we are visiting. Of course, Catalan politics was the main topic of the day, seeing that Puigdemont was asked by the constitutional court to appear at the parliament if he wanted to have the option to be the regional leader of Catalonia. The committee must have had a sense of how important this day would be, and planned trips to the Senate and the Constitutional Court that same day. We walked a very touristic route to the Senado. We were welcomed by the vice-president Pedro Sanz. A short movie with some very delicate music can be found on his Facebook page. We got a tour of the old senate, the impressive rooms and the gothic library. After this very official visit, we got to the Constitutional Court, where we were received by the legal council of the president of the Constitutional Court, Juan Antonio Hernández Corchete. We got a tour around the building and were able to ask all of our legal questions surrounding the Catalonian matter. After an elaborate photoshoot it was time to go back to the hostel and go our separate ways for the evening. Most went out for drinks and dinner, at tapas bars, paella restaurants, markets and various other nice places.

Even though the airplane is green instead of blue – for some reason, KLM thinks we care deeply and apologizes – the flight goes well enough and the group arrives at the airport of the Spanish capital at 10 AM or so. From there, we travel by metro to our hostel. We can’t check in yet, but somehow need to find a way to get dressed to the nines for our first activity. The only option is to quickly change clothes in the hallway. Chaos ensues. “We’ve seen each other naked, an entirely different form of SPIL bonding,” one group member proclaims.

At 3 PM, the group arrives at the building of the Spanish newspaper El Mundo. After the group photo is taken, we gather for a Q&A session with the deputy editor-in-chief. Aided by two SPIL members who are fluent in Spanish, the deputy editor-in-chief introduces his newspaper as an independent paper that does use kid gloves for anyone. In his view, that is one of the main differences with its competitor ABC, that is ‘more polite’ towards the political elite. He also elaborates on tanking circulation figures of newspapers worldwide. El Mundo, he explains, is looking for ways to combat its loss of traditional readership by monetizing its online content through a paywall system. Even though, or perhaps because his answers are quite elaborate, some SPIL members have a hard time staying awake. Their short night appears to catch on to them. Some find themselves saved by chewing gum; others can’t help but capitulate. After the Q&A session, the group is shown around the building. Sister papers Expansión and Marca, a financial and a sports newspaper respectively, are also located in the building. When the short tour is finished, the group travels back to the hostel and everyone finally settles in their room. As the night falls, several smaller groups find a place to eat and to get to know each other a little better.

Day 2: Yasmin de Fraiture

After yesterday’s exciting events we had another full day waiting for us. First, a meeting with Rop Zoutberg, who was unfortunately a little lite because of an interview on the Dutch radio about the hot topic of Catalonia. Mr Zoutberg is the NOS correspondent in Madrid. He has been for quite some time, if we do not count his four year stay in Rome as an interruption. With his impressive career, he was open to answering all of our questions. They ranged from corruption in both Italy and Spain, to building a social life when working abroad. He urged us several times that we should definitely spend some time abroad and advised us to make sure to speak the language of the country that we are visiting. Of course, Catalan politics was the main topic of the day, seeing that Puigdemont was asked by the constitutional court to appear at the parliament if he wanted to have the option to be the regional leader of Catalonia. The committee must have had a sense of how important this day would be, and planned trips to the Senate and the Constitutional Court that same day. We walked a very touristic route to the Senado. We were welcomed by the vice-president Pedro Sanz. A short movie with some very delicate music can be found on his Facebook page. We got a tour of the old senate, the impressive rooms and the gothic library. After this very official visit, we got to the Constitutional Court, where we were received by the legal council of the president of the Constitutional Court, Juan Antonio Hernández Corchete. We got a tour around the building and were able to ask all of our legal questions surrounding the Catalonian matter. After an elaborate photoshoot it was time to go back to the hostel and go our separate ways for the evening. Most went out for drinks and dinner, at tapas bars, paella restaurants, markets and various other nice places.

Day 3: Hessel Knippels

The third day of our trip to Madrid saw visits to two universities in the Spanish capital. Our day started with the Autonomous University of Madrid. The campus has an American touch to it. The campus is vast and has quite a bit of greenery. We are received at the faculty of law, it has the looks of a sports stadium straight out of the USSR. We are received by to very friendly teachers one of whom is Dutch. The visit is made up of two parts the first being a presentation by the teachers about Spanish politics its history and institutions. After this interesting event three members of the SPIL gave a short presentation about Dutch politics for an audience consisting of mostly Dutch students of political science. The visit to the autonomous university is concluded by an excellent lunch of typical local food accompanied by a glass of Rioja all in accordance to Spanish tradition.

The day continues at the St. Louis university. An Catholic American University from Missouri with a campus in Madrid. Consequently a large fraction of the students are from the USA. We engage in a conversation with the human rights group about differing political topics to get to know each other and to exchange experiences about the political situation in our countries of origin. The students form an diverse and somewhat privileged group. This has to do with the character of the university which is a private one. A Syrian student has an interesting view about the situation in his own country. Barrel bombs and chemical weapons utilized by the Assad regime are a legitimate way of warfare and civilian casualties are a necessary evil. ‘You can’t make an omelet without breaking some eggs’ is his incredible remark. After this culture shock the SPIL group heads for the solace of the city centre for a well deserved cold one or a glass of sangria.